New Accessories Range

We have set up a new section of our website dedicated to the sale of test and measurement accessories. The aim is to provide an easy to use "one stop shop" taking advantage of our competitive pricing and fast delivery.

PicoLog software — Have Your Say

If you are a regular user of PicoLog data logging software, this is your chance to have your say on how it could be improved in the next version.

If there are any changes or new features you would like to make the program easier to use or more productive, please e-mail us with your comments.

While we can not promise to include every suggestion, they will all be given serious consideration.

Technical Tip — Reducing Noise in Oscilloscope Measurements

For many measurement applications, noise is a big concern. A typical example in the automotive field is measuring injector current using a current clamp. The signals from the current clamp are only a few mV in amplitude, yet nearby are ignition signals of many kV.

The best way to minimize noise is to try to eliminate it at source, in the above example keep the current clamp as far away from ignition components as practical and ensure all connecting leads are screened.

Physical precautions as described above will help minimise noise pickup, simple software filtering can often be used to further reduce its effects.

PicoScope oscilloscope software has several display modes that can be used to reduce noise pickup, the differences between these modes are described below and can be selected from the settings | options menu:

Current (Unfiltered)
This is the default display mode, it takes all the data captured by the oscilloscope and maps it onto the PC monitor using a min/max algorithm. This ensures any fast transients are displayed, but will also act to highlight any high frequency noise.

Current (Filtered)
This mode applies a simple low pass filter to remove high frequency noise from the oscilloscope display. This mode would be ideal for the automotive application described.

Average
This mode build up an average trace based on all cycles captured. This is useful for removing random noise from repetitive signals.

Min, Max and Average
This displays this displays a shaded area showing the minimum and maximum of all cycles captured. In addition it displays the average trace as well. As with the average mode, noise is removed from repetitive signals, in addition the shaded area gives an indication of how noisy the signal is.

New Science Experiment

Our library of science experiments for data loggers and oscilloscopes continues to grow.

New this month is a Physics experiment entitled "Beagle 2 - landing on Mars" which looks at the forces, the Beagle 2 spacecraft will be subject to when it lands on Mars.

Events

Please visit Pico Exhibitions for the latest list of exhibitions and trade shows that Pico and its representatives will be attending.

Software releases

Our latest software releases are available as free downloads. To check which release you are using, start the software and select Help > About.

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Testimonials

The kit (2408B) is of obvious quality, easy to setup and calibrate and the free to download software has a reasonable learning curve. Superb kit, superb support, what more can I say.

Rop Honnor

I have been using my 4224 PicoScope for years. I travel abroad so this has been ideal due to its physical size. Storage of waveforms on my Laptop is very easy allowing me to quickly email waveforms to my Colleagues.

Andrew

Not many USB scopes works on Win & Mac & Linux too, so that proves me that guys from Pico really cares about us, customers. This made my decision much easier when I was looking to buy an USB scope.

Raul Trifan

We have been using Picoscope 6404D for quite some time, and are amazed by its accuracy and powerful emulations while working with numerous signal evaluations.

J Mohanty

PicoLog TC-08: This is a very nice unit that works consistently and reliably.

Jeff Hulett

It is a great scope. I had a weird problem - it did not work on one of my PC’s. Customer service gave me first class service. If I could give 6 stars for customer service - I would do so.

Niels Larsen

Perfect Partner for Development of Encoder controlled Stepper Motor Actuators. Since the included software is really stable, this type of device is a great tool for great tasks!

Helmut Schoettner

A superb piece of equipment worth its weight in gold

Nigel Clinch

So simple to use & beats any other I have ever used hands down.

John D Samsing

Great functionality in a compact size. I really like moving the mouse pointer to a position and having the Time and Voltage display the values at that point. Calibration equipment is a breeze with that feature.